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The Buffalo Nickel and Bison Facts Today

Season 1 Episode 2 | 9m 15s

The 1913 Buffalo Nickel raises important questions about the romanticization of the American West. Bison were brought back from the brink of extinction. Today conservation work continues in concert with the people whose lives have been intertwined with the buffalo for over 10,000 years. At least 80 tribes in 20 states control their own herds on nearly a million acres of tribal land.

Corporate funding for The American Buffalo was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by The Better Angels Society and its following members: The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation fund at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation; Diane and Hal Brierley; The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment; John and Catherine Debs; Kissick Family Foundation; Fred and Donna Seigel; Jacqueline Mars; John and Leslie McQuown; and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Tudor Jones. Funding was also provided by The Volgenau Foundation.
Latest Episodes
An unlikely collection of Americans rescues the national mammal from extinction.
America’s national mammal, once numbering millions, is driven to near extinction.
Extras
Iniskim follows a young woman’s journey to recovery by reconnecting with the buffalo.
An intimate look at the only indigenous tribal-led buffalo drive in North America.
The Rosebud Indian Reservations Wolakota Project aims to bring the buffalo home.
By 1889, Buffalo Bill Cody was the most famous American in the world.
Grinnell fought the destruction of birds and other wildlife, including the buffalo.
More than 250 Lakotas – mostly women and children – were killed by U.S. soldiers.
The U.S. government made treaties with Indigenous people when it was convenient.
The scale of wild animal loss during the 1800s is the largest in known human history.
Did you know a buffalo can clear a six-foot fence?
Examining the center of one of the country’s most mythic and heartbreaking tales.
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